So what's it like to fly the Millennium Falcon?
It's exhilarating. And, to be honest, kinda frustrating, too.
I got my first ride on Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run at today's media preview for Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland. The backstory here is that Hondo Ohnaka has borrowed the Falcon from Chewbacca to, uh, transport some perfectly legal merchandise in exchange for a generous contribution to the Resistance. (Paid for, no doubt, from Hondo's profit from this smuggling run.)
The Falcon is parked here on Batuu for repairs (does nothing ever change?) at the Ohnaka Transport Solutions headquarters in Black Spire Outpost. So we enter the queue to see the work that Ohnaka's crew is doing to get the Falcon and the other ships in the fleet ready for their missions. (The full queue experience video is embedded below, which includes on-ride highlights provided by Disney.)
Eventually, we meet Ohnaka in the queue, and he gives us our orders: To "meet" a First Order transport train and "obtain" a shipment of valuable coaxium, which will return to the Batuu. (Okay, maybe "hijack" and "steal" would be more accurate verbs here, but Ohnaka insists that this is all perfectly legal!)
After our pep talk from the boss, we walk down the jetway to the Falcon. Here, Disney's Imagineers have delivered a nifty tactile surprise, as the floor that hallway springs a bit, just like the jetways in an airport, reinforcing the idea that you are about to board something that will fly you very far away.
At the end of the jetway, a OTS employee greets you and gives you your assignment: as one of two pilots, gunners, or engineers, each charged with roles in this mission. The pilots have to fly the Falcon. The gunners shoot at anything that shoots back. And the engineers have to snag the coaxium and keep the ship flying.
Easy? As the employees say, "no experience necessary!"
The final step before entering the cockpit is to chill for a few moments inside the Falcon's Dejarik (chess) room. This is selfie heaven for a Star Wars geek and perhaps the first time in my life when I cursed a theme park queue for moving too fast.
Too quickly, we are ushered into the six-person cockpit, where everyone freaks out for a moment before we get down to business.
There's far too much to process here for a single ride. You want to watch what's happening out that cockpit window, while also watching your console to hit the buttons as the light up. And, of yeah, you're listening to Ohnaka on the intercom, too, telling you instructions throughout the run. Disney's Imagineers have done an amazing job in recreating the Falcon in all its detail. It's a sensory overload, but shouldn't a flight on the fastest ship in the galaxy be just that?
Hand on heart: As the gunner on the Falcon, the crime I wanted to commit here was not theft or assault. It was hijacking this ship and flying the thing myself. Because the success or failure of your run lies primarily in the hands of the pilots, who must dodge every obstacle and hit every mark to get that payload we are trying to steal. And it's frustrating not to be in control when you are sitting in the middle or back.
That said, I have zero confidence that I would not screw up this mission any worse than my pilots did. Because, despite what Hondo's minions say in the queue, experience really does help here. And I had none.
This isn't Mission: Space, with its one-outcome-for-everyone "interactivity." Yes, everyone will return to Batuu, and everyone will bring back at least one container of coaxium. But that's all we got. So I wanted to turn right around, get back in the queue, and try again and again and again.
In the pilot's seat, of course.
While that's great for Disney in inspiring people to want to come back and visit and ride again, it's a huge challenge for Disney in managing this opening season, when crowds will be pushing the land to its capacity. How do you keep the fastest ship in the galaxy from becoming the slowest queue in the park, thanks to all those people wanting to ride again?
It's frustrating, to be sure.
Update: I rode again, after the dedication moment, and I got to pilot! By the Force in the Jedi Temple, this is 100% a better experience from the pilot's seat. The left seat pilot controls the lateral movement while the right seat pilot (me) controls the vertical... and gets to make the jump to hyperspace.
That alone was worth the wait. But up front you have a clearer, more focused view of what's happening, too. No, you're still dependent upon the rest of the team to ensure maximum success, but you can avoid catastrophic failure from up front.
The worst case scenario is that you collect only one container of coaxium. But we got two on my second mission and earned money for Hondo... instead of owning him money as we did on the first run.
The difference between Star Tours and this is the difference between riding as a tourist in the back of the bus versus driving an Aston Martin GT4 on your own. The controls here are sensitive and really give you a feel of steering the Falcon. The sensory feedback is amazing - it never feels like a simulator. It just feels like your are piloting a vehicle that moves in three dimensions. It's gaming, amplified.
Buy Tickets: For discount tickets to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure, visit our officially authorized Disneyland tickets page. And for our overall review of the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge land, read on!
Looks awesome! Imagine when guests who prefer to sit back and watch get involved, that should make for some interesting interactions even within parties actually visiting together! :)
How does the ride experience, or to be more specific the physical movements, compare to a ride such as Star Tours?
Ok, couple of things after watching the video. You enter the Falcon through a hallway, much like the enclosed boarding ramp connected to an airplane in an airport. It would have been nice if you board through the lower ramp under the ship, like in the Original Trilogy movies.
Also, you are supposedly a 6 person team recruited by Hondo, but all the time, you are with a large group of people. The incongruency is especially obvious in the Hondo briefing room and especially inside the Falcon waiting room, where a lot of people are checking out the details.
Do the different teams go through the same cockpit door? Or are teams led down different hallways to different cockpits? It doesn't make sense that this large group is divided into small teams that are flying the same Falcon. I guess they had to do it this way to accommodate large crowds, but it weakens the believability a little bit. But maybe Disney is counting on the people thinking that the experience is so awesome that they won't notice.
So in Orlando after you wait in the huge queue and get stuck with a group that speaks no English and has no idea whats going on, after taking off can they crash it right into the ground? =P
Holy COW this looks amazing. I just can't believe the detail on this and while can see arguments on who goes where, that just means folks want to ride it again to add to the fun. This should be incredible.
Disney employs some optical and design trickery to hide the fact that you are going to one of many identical cockpits down separate hallways from the chess room. (And there are two chess rooms, as the queue is divided before meeting Onaka.) So it feels as though you are going into the "real" Falcon cockpit with your group.
And you can't crash the Falcon. Worst case is you bang it up, only get the one coaxium, and you owe Hondo money at the end. It actually takes some work and attention to do better than that, though, so yeah, YMMV based on the other five people in the cockpit with you.
Robert, thanks for adding some clarification and detail about the cockpit and chess rooms. You said that the queue is divided before meeting Ohnaka, does that mean there are two Ohnakas?
You can see in the video at 7:40 the queue is split then after the preshow the people go different ways.
Ah yes driving an Aston Martin sure sounds like an upgrade over the bus. I like Star Tours and that analogy alone has increased my anticipation for this tenfold.
This ride has a lot of "pressure". It's going to be compared to E-tickets like Radiator Springs Racers, Flight of Passage, and Forbidden Journey at Universal. Previous rides that headlined a new land. Rise of the Resistance sure would have alleviated some pressure though. Regardless, glad to hear this ride is a winner!
Most of what I've been hearing about this sounds like it's a very good ride, but if you're not into the whole roleplay component of it the attraction is a bit underwhelming. From this review, I can definitely say I'm hyped to experience it, though not quite hyped enough to buy a $150 ticket and rush out to ride this summer. I am very curious to see what the reaction is as more people ride this one, as I've got a feeling it will be fairly divisive.
So, as I suspected, the pilots get the best view/interactivity/over all experience. I really don’t think I’d be that impressed if i queued for (potentially) hours, only to be assigned one of the back seats. Plus, if you’re in a group with kids, I’ve heard that there’ll be even less chance of being a pilot, as CM’s will be favouring them for the role because, well, they’re kids! I’m still excited to try it out, but I think ROTR will be the real jaw dropper.
I know that you didn’t get to be an engineer, Robert, but did you get a glimpse at what they do? At the surface, being stuck in the back sounds just like riding Mission Space. Press this button! Press that button! If it’s as boring as it sounds (George Jetson simulator) I’d put it on autopilot and watch everybody else do their thing.
Does the Dejarik table actually emit a hologram? That would be really cool but it doesn't seem so.
From what is trickling out on the Star Wars nerdy sites (of which I freely admit I frequent), is the theming is amazing, the land is great, and the ride itself is underwhelming. The very few I have seen admit they are not theme park people and seem to express frustrations similar to Robert's points. My takes are a few. First, people are going to be overly critical, so people can take it for what it is worth. On the other side, this was Disney's chance to make a Forbidden Journey, and it seems they have not done that, but the other attraction may be that attempt. I would hate to be a family of four and spend $10,000 to ride the thing once and have the flight be underwhelming, as it does not appear people will get a chance for a return attempt. My other predictions are once the four hour window resolves itself, people are going to love this thing.
I said it before and I'll say it again....No one likes Star Wars. No one will show up to see this...waste of money and resourses! ;)
OK, I couldn't even keep a serious expression while typing that. But I personally am impartial to the whole Star Wars saga and yes, I've seen all the films. But this looks pretty damn cool!
I'm going to temper my enthusiasm a bit, but I have to say this looks pretty amazing. I really liked the design of the queue, and how guests get multiple perspectives of the Falcon. It allows the artists to have their marvelous work seen from all sides with that view from the upper tier windows quite impressive - straight out of the movies and concept drawings. I have to agree with Disfan that it's a bit disappointing that guests don't enter the Falcon through the ramp, but I'll trade that tiny piece of reality to get a glimpse of what might be one of the most amazing looking set pieces in a theme park. The real question will be is that queue long enough - it appears to be about half the length of the one for FoP.
I hope Disney has invested as much in card stock as they have in design and engineering, because those grouping cards are going to disappear a million times faster than the barf bags on Mission Space. It looks like they borrowed Universal's virtual queue concept here on a slightly smaller scale as guests can wander the Dejarik Room while they're waiting for their individual ride pod - very clever.
I do have a few questions though - It seems as though the ride system is similar to BttF/Simpsons, but obviously each pod has its own individual screens and independent gimble movements. Was there a sense that they were loading individual flight pods for independent dispatch (constant flow of guests in and out of the ride), or were groups of pods dispatched at the same time (surges of groups in and out)? Also, it appeared that the seating in the pods was not tiered (stadium-style). Did you feel that the view in the back could have been improved with a higher vantage point (will shorter guests sitting in the back row be able to see anything?), or were you too busy focusing on the tasks that viewing the screens above were enough? The simulated movements on the ride appeared to be pretty tame. Was there anything that seemed extreme or did you feel there was a potential for more aggressive/thrilling motion with more experienced/talented pilots? My guess is that in order to improve reliability that Disney didn't want to push the envelope too much here so they can meet the demand for this highly anticipated attraction.
As with others here, I think Disney is going to have a hard time controlling demand for this attraction, especially since it's been noted that performance on this ride will affect interactions throughout Galaxy's Edge. This is way more involved than getting "The Suit" on MIB, seeing yourself with the high score on TSM, or getting a different ride sequence on ToT or Star Tours. Serious fans and guests with competitive personalities will want to ride this as many times as possible to see what happens not only during the ride, but as they exit (saw the way the hallway interacted as you left with sparks and obvious sounds indicating the damage to the Falcon) and spend more time through Black Spire Outpost following the ride. I could see people spending their entire 4-hour visit (or entire day after the reservation period is over) trying to master this attraction. Keeping lines on this at 2 hours or less is going to be a struggle, and I doubt the single rider will provide much relief as I predict most repeat riders will try to speed their wait this way making it just as long as the standard line (like the single rider on Gringott's, which is periodically closed when it gets too long).
That Hondo animatronic is really impressive. The way his hair and jacket flow with the movements of the figure is about as realistic as they come. Disney could have taken the easy way out like they did on Star Tours by having a droid perform the introduction, but using a humanoid animatronic is next level. My hope would be that there are cast members assigned to appear as Hondo around Batuu.
As for the criticism of it being underwhelming or not "Star Wars" enough (missing key characters aside from Chewy), that was an initial criticism of Star Tours. That ride went over 10 years with incredible popularity before they decided to upgrade the attraction with more familiar characters and additional locations. I think the same may happen here with Disney experimenting to see if they can introduce new characters and stories through the attractions that guests will gravitate towards (like Rex, Figment, and others). Then, if they feel that guests need to be comforted by more familiar characters, it's easy for them to incorporate them into the land (the red R2 unit in the pre-show is probably easily converted to R2-D2 if needed).
This doesn't look like the most thrilling or intense attraction, but it definitely looks like one of the most impressive and immersive rides Disney has ever attempted. The only question will be if Disney will be able to satisfy the demand for this.
Where there different outcomes regarding the 2 times you rode it and did anything or anyone in the area reminded you about your performance in the ride?
Also I don't exactly understand that you see the Falcon standing outside when you get in but it looks like it lands behind the AA. Later on it, outside, it stands again in it's old place. Is this all logical or explained?
Both the inside and outside looks amazing except for a small claustrophobic part of the queue.
Do you need 6 people to fly the mission? Or is it one of those things where you definitely need 2 pilots, but could get away with 1 gunner or engineer? I'm guessing the latter.
Looks awesome. But a few suggestions to improve it:
1. More characters in the queue talking about midichlorians
2. Create 7th-10th roles for people being smuggled below deck in a dark cubby hole. This would help increase capacity.
3. Have Jar Jar Binks come on screen at the end and say, "Dang. Where'd you people learn to ride like that?" Then have him refer to us as "family" several times.
Other than that it's perfect.
Russell - On your last point about the familiarity of the characters on Batuu... I'm really curious to see if the idea of "creating YOUR Star Wars story" will pan out. I'm super excited to experience a new location, almost void of familiar characters, because it will enhance the interactivity and unique nature of the land. Folks crying foul because they can't hug Luke Skywalker just don't understand what Disney is trying to do here. The same folks are likely the ones freaking out about the Emperor's presence in The Rise of Skywalker.
Also, is there any chance the new trilogy WON'T include Batuu? Hmmm...
The real question about the next trilogy is if there's any chance it WON'T include dragons since D.B. Weiss and David Benioff (show runners for Game of Thrones) have been announced as directing the next "Saga" film due in 2022. I know TH has to be excited about that!
The folks that are complaining about Palpatine in The Rise of Skywalker are the same ones that have whined about JJ Abrams making The Force Awakens a shot for shot remake of A New Hope. Star Wars fans are a fickle bunch, and it's funny to see the anti-JJ people praise Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi, while pro-JJ people (and lots of neutrals) pan the middle film of the current trilogy.
BTW, I have to applaud Robert for including JJ-esque lens flares in his video - even if they were unintentional - ;)
The last jedi cut corners on a lot of the plot points that were set forth in the prior film. I think they are both good films if we view them as two independent star wars films, but as being a part of a sequence the second film completely throws in the trash almost everything that was set up in TFA. I am sure the rise of Skywalker will be good but it is a little disappointing how they have been rolling out plot lines in the newest trilogy, especially considering how masterful Disney has been with the marvel franchises where over 20+ films all have weaving plot lines that tie together in Endgame.
The mission itself is presented on a very small screen, and only given to a small group. And given that and that whenever Hondo says anything actually mission-specific, the video cuts away to graphics, I'm guessing that multiple missions will be part of the mix at some point.
It'd be pretty easy to change, "fly to CORELLIA to TAIL THE SHIP and steal COAXIUM" to "fly to BESPIN to HARASS HUTT TRADERS and steal KYBER CRYSTALS." or whatever. Load different graphics into the simulator, and voila: Star Tours 2.0-level complexity!
I can tell that riding as an Engineer while--say--my nephew is piloting is to be a great test of my kindness quotient.
Why not just have separate cues for the positions and let people choose? Just like many roller coasters have a separate cue for the front seats?
Anyway that there is no Han/Luke/Leia moment in this ride or in the entire land at least is a huge blunder by Disney, just as it is in their sequel trilogy.
Haha! Love it, Russell! All I know is if The Rise of Skywalker doesn't include a smoke monster and Jennifer Garner, I'm going to burn this mother down. :-P
Robert - Quick question, and I'm sorry if this has already been answered elsewhere. Is the ride system a shaky box simulator like Star Tours, or is it a spinning simulator like Mission Space? It looks like there is only a seat belt, so I am going to assume this is more like Star Tours than Mission Space.
Mostly - THANKS for all the wonderful coverage.
It's gimbal-mounted, so like Star Tours, but with the motion under the passengers' collective control, which could make it much smoother... or somewhat worse, depending mostly upon the performance of the left pilot.
Looks really cool! Can't wait to ride it!
For the mixed reviews coming in, we do have to remember though, Smuggler's Run isn't the top tier attraction in Galaxys Edge.
Rise of the Resistance is supposedly the most advanced attraction is any Disney park, so that's supposed to be the crown jewel in Galaxy's Edge. Because it's not open.....extra pressure will be put on Smugglers, because it's the only ride in the land open at this time.
I'm sure there will be disappointments with Smugglers Run....especially with it currently being the only attraction open in the land....I'm guessing once the hype dies down (well slightly) & Resistance opens, Smugglers Run will settle into it's place as a "Really Good Attraction".
Disney should expect a lot of disappointment, but I think it will taper off when being viewed in context.
Right now, many people will be expecting to be completely blown away.....and will probably leave with the thought of "It was good, but".......Still based on the preview, this looks like a pretty immersive, fun attraction!!
@the_man .... Agreed. Orlando will be a whole different ball game. Being a single rider on everything Disney, I see the culture differences on every ride and attraction. I've sat with people on mission space that do nothing, others that do everything 20 times over. That sort of interactivity is not going to work on smugglers run. There will be a lot of frustration all round, that's for sure.
The only sure fire way to get the most out of the ride would be to go in as a group of 6, and even then are you guaranteed a cabin to yourselves ??
I may wander round the area after it opens, but I won't try and ride smugglers run until they start to issue FP+'s. After that, I'll just have to see how many times I have to ride before I get to pilot the ship.
Maybe after xx months, I'll get a reputation as a great pilot, and can offer my services to unsuspecting tourists LOL ... :) Ha !!!
I just read this on io9... “We’ve really taken great care to design this as a flexible experience,” said Asa Kalama, executive creative director at Disney Imagineering. “[One] that, over time, as the stories of Star Wars continue to grow and expand, that there are also really wonderful opportunities for all of you to potentially enjoy some future adventures as well.”
What's the Vegas odds of this ride buttons or anything interactive breaking down within months?
@Madvaz - I have faith that the essential switches and buttons will remain in good working order for the foreseeable future. Some had the same criticism of the buttons and joysticks on Mission: Space as well as the guns on Buzz and TSM, but those attractions are all still in tip top shape over a decade later. As we've seen, Disney Imagineers usually do their homework and understand the rigors that certain components will be placed under, and over-engineer them to last. I don't think I've ever been on Mission: Space where the buttons and joystick did not work flawlessly. Also, note that each station/seat only has a small array of buttons/controls that are actually "live" and affect the experience (for the pilots, just one stick and the hyperdrive lever), so it's not like we're flying the Space Shuttle with thousands of buttons and switches that all need to be working flawlessly.
I've just been watching the videos Lance has posted on Screamscape and I reiterate my fears for the ride at DHS.
I cannot see how a group of multi-cultural tourists are going to gel together and fly the Falcon. It isn't going to happen. There will be language and communication problems, there has to be. A back seat engineer who really wanted to be a pilot ... ?? The mismatch list goes on and on.
And Oh my .... the yelling and screaming !! Not good, IMO anyway. But then yes, I'm an old fart .... :)
It's going to be a while before I get to ride smugglers run, but as the guy in one video suggested, you are going to have to ride it multiple times to get the full experience, and that, for 99.9% of the people visiting DL and DHS, just isn't going to happen.
Us pass holders, when FP+ becomes available, are going to be the ones who will really get the full experience. It'll be interesting to see how long it takes to get one though ??
You make some good points Makorider. However, I think there will be enough guests that know how to play video games that will keep most groups from having a disastrous experience. I'm sure there will be those groups of older, foreign, non-English speaking guests that just won't get it at all, and they will ride this once for the novelty of it and move on. For most of them, they're traveling great distances to visit WDW, and are either doing it for their kids, who will likely gravitate to the gaming aspect of the ride, or will brush off the inevitable 2+ hour wait as "par for the course" for any new WDW attraction.
Your point about the experience aspect for this attraction is a big one. I get the same feeling when I ride TSM that I could get a really high score if I could just get some back to back rides (like you can on MIB through UE or the single rider/baby swap line) instead of having to wait every 30-45 minutes. The fact of the matter is that most guests will only ride this attraction once during their visit because of the lines and other attractions around WDW/DL. It's great to see Disney add variability and open-ended outcomes for attractions (particularly when those outcomes affect your experiences elsewhere in the park), but if a lack of experience degrades guests' initial impression of the attraction, most won't see the point in waiting in another 2+ hour line to re-ride this, especially if RotR is as good as indicated and all the other top-level attractions in the parks.
While it sounds like Disney will be utilizing a single rider line, it might not be the best way to experience this since singles are going to almost always get relegated to the Engineer's position in the back. You might be able to convince some naive guests to let you sit in the pilot seat as a single rider, or perhaps you're friends with the CM grouper. It might even be better to ride single rider line for you FIRST ride to start racking up credits to use in the Disney Parks App or to perform reconnaissance for the other roles when you decide to wait in the standby line (back seat driver, literally).
Russell ... I may have missed something along the way but what makes you think single riders will always get the engineer role ?
I'm guessing they will join the main group 'downstream' of the entrance and it should be a random draw where you get to sit ?
On the flip side of that coin, do you think FP+ holders will be given pilot priority?
All very interesting for sure.
In Robert's video, the groupers were asking for singles when they were assigning guests their boarding cards. I presume that it's at this spot where the single rider line will merge with the standby (and possibly FP) line. It's unclear whether guests are given their roles at that point or after they're called from the Dejarik Room, but unless the single rider is clever or insistent (or the group they're riding with is completely incompetent/oblivious), they will almost always end up in the Back of the Bus. Since they will be grouping riders from front (pilots) to back (engineers), the single riders will be filling spots not occupied by the larger groups. It's just like when you ride TestTrack, RSR, or MIB (all with rows of 3 seats), the single riders end up in the seat closest to the load platform (in this case, Engineer) unless multiple singles are needed to fill the pod. Also, most reviewers of the attraction have indicated that CMs will be preferentially selecting children to serve as pilots, meaning that if you're a single rider grouped with a family of 4 (or 5), your chances of getting into either of the pilot's seats is pretty much zilch. As with any single rider line, you're going to fill whatever empty seats the CMs need you to occupy, so unless you can convince others in your riding group to let you pilot the Falcon (or make fast friends with the CM groupers), you're going to end up in one of the Engineer's chairs.
I'm not sure how the queue is laid out, but I'm guessing the FP merge will happen either right at or just prior to the grouping area unless the other side of the queue/set of ride systems is solely dedicated to FP, so FP riders won't have any preferential placement in the pods.
Hmmm ... so I may never get to pilot the Falcon ... :(
Still for me that opportunity may not come until next year anyway.
Your role is printed on your group assignment card, but you are welcome to trade with others in your group.
So, I gotta ask.... and hopefully it's not too late to ask it here.
Review scales can be subjective, so hoping to get some sort of transferable scale... Based on the experience of the ride, and the experience of the land, how far out of your way is it worth going to experience it? (eg - Worth an extra day at the park if you're there anyway, worth crossing a state, worth crossing the US, worth crossing the pond? etc)
Thanks for the clarification Robert. I don't know, if during the weeks after Labor Day, I'll even be able to get into DHS after work. I will certainly try, and if I do, and they are using the virtual queue, I'll see what the wait time is and maybe hang around.
Interesting point on the trading aspect. Can't see anyone wanting to trade out a pilot's role, but you never know.
We might get a better idea of the madness and mayhem that's going to descend on DHS late August, once DL gets beyond it's reservation period.
Question Robert. When Disney announced the details of the land, it was widely reported that guests would build a “reputation” and that depending on how well you did on smugglers run, cast members throughout the land would react to you in different ways. Did this pan out? If so how does it work?
The land was not yet fully operational, but I didn't see any evidence of my rides afterward on the Play Disney Parks app, even though I had opted into the Bluetooth and tracking settings that Disney recommended. The main place that Imagineers had said you might have to deal with your Falcon reputation was in the Cantina, but that wasn't running a typical service set-up during the media preview.
More generally, I was intrigued by the Star Wars Datapad in the Play Disney Parks app, but didn't feel like it added much to the experience than being a new and more creative way to kill time in the land. Perhaps with a land full of guests using their Datapads to take control of the Outpost, the app might feel quite a bit more rewarding. Here's hoping.
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Could definitely see arguments with strangers arising as to who would play which role. I certainly wouldn’t want to wait in line for half a day to be an engineer on the Falcon! I want to fly it, or at the very least, shoot something!